Con Fuoco
by tearsofamiko
Summary: “Once upon a time, long ago, they heard the music and followed it.” JIBBS drabbles.


Title: Con Fuoco

Author: Tearsofamiko

Rating: K

Disclaimer: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...ahem...no, I don't own them.

Spoilers: Nah

Summary: "Once upon a time, long ago, they heard the music and followed it." _August Rush_

A/N: The title is a musical term meaning "with fire." It was either that or 'con passione' ("with passion"). ^^ I'm not sure I like any of them, but I figured, eh, what could it hurt?

.:::.

_Please Don't Leave Me – Pink (Funhouse)_

She didn't want to need him. She really didn't. She'd gone for nine years without him, had made that choice on her own, and before that had spent her whole life without needing him. She didn't need him now, damn it.

Maybe that was why they fought, why she was so cold when faced with him. She needed him but everything in her fought it, freezing out her attitude.

She needed him, but maybe she'd gone too far this time. Using the past against him was never a good idea but she'd crossed the line this time and his eyes told her she'd hit the mark with alarming accuracy.

She didn't want to need him but she couldn't let him go.

.:::.

_Call Me When You're Sober – Evanescence (The Open Door)_

Sometimes he thought her job was too much for her. Why else would she call him in the middle of the night, her words half-mumbled as she told him how much she needed him, how important he was to her. He didn't have to see her bloodshot eyes or smell the alcohol on her breath to know it was the bourbon talking, not really her.

Last night when she called, though, there had been a change. She blamed him for it all: the lost years, the palpable distance between them now, the cold way she spoke to him. And maybe it was the hour, maybe the bourbon _he'd_ drunk, but he wasn't going to let her get away with it.

"Don't blame me for what you started, Jen," he told her and somehow the click as the line disconnected was terribly final.

.:::.

_Sk8er Boi – Avril Lavigne (Let Go)_

You can see the chemistry between them, despite their professional demeanors and polite distance. You've seen them there, day after day, and each day your conviction grows a little more.

You've heard the rumors in the lounge and cafeteria, the water-cooler gossip and office bets. You know all of the speculation but what the others don't know is, you've managed to con Ziva into spilling the beans and you know more than mere hearsay.

There was something, years ago, but it ended abruptly. It ended because she had a plan and he didn't fit. He wasn't part of her fast track to success and, even though she loved him, she'd left him behind.

You see the chemistry, though, and can't help but wonder if maybe she regretted it.

.:::.

_S.O.S. – Rihanna (A Girl Like Me)_

They were undercover, she forced herself to remember. It was all a ruse, no matter how real it felt or how much she needed this. She couldn't seem to distance herself from it and it almost scared her.

She asked him about it the other day, whether he'd ever lost his impartiality before. He'd given her a long look and told her that, no, he never had. She wasn't sure, though. Something about his eyes belied his words.

Having seen what she did, though, it seemed likethere was soething more to his touch that night at dinner, something that ran along her skin like a caress of heat. They played their game but his eyes were so intense the entire time and she couldn't think, could barely remember to breathe.

She fled within herself when they got back to the hotel, tried to put distance between herself and the fierce warmth of his eyes. To save the mission. To save her sanity.

.:::.

_Runaway – Pink (I'm Not Dead)_

She had to do this, she told herself. She had a plan and she needed to follow through. She left her letter in her coat and she left the coat on the plane and walked away.

She couldn't stop the tears, though, or the condemning thoughts. Yes, she loved him, but she needed to do this, to fulfill what was expected of her.

He was married, anyway. Divorcing, but still married, with dark shadows in his past that reflected in his eyes. She didn't belong in his life and he'd only hold her back. She refused to regret anything.

Would he miss her, though?

The thought taunted her for years, drove her to keep to the plan, kept her from calling him. It echoed in her every action until the day she turned around in the dark theatre of MTAC and stared into his eyes to find her answer.

.:::.

_Black Horse & The Cherry Tree – KT Tunstall (Eye To The Telescope)_

She hated the confusion he inspired in her, hated the turmoil his blue eyes stirred up. So, when he began to interfere with her plan, she left, cut him out of her life as surely as if she'd taken a knife to her heart.

She still felt the reverberations all these years later. No man had come close to him and she feared no man would. Somehow she'd given him her whole heart and she didn't know how to get it back.

Or if she wanted to.

.:::.

_Torn – Natalie Imbruglia (Left Of The Middle)_

How was he everything she'd ever wanted? How did he embody everything she'd always needed? She hadn't known the answer to those questions nine years ago and she still didn't.

He was so different now, but still managed to have everything she found necessary. She tried to find it elsewhere, especially after he'd left, but it didn't work. Even the strong, silent types she'd tried didn't come close.

She didn't even know how to tell him. So much blocked the way and she couldn't figure out how to breach it. A letter? A letter was how it'd ended years ago. And she was too fragile to tell him, too proud to be the weak one and break first.

So she watched him and fought herself for a way to let him know.

.:::.

_Unwritten – Natasha Bedingfield (Unwritten)_

He didn't know how to describe what he saw each day. He wanted to because it would help him better understand it, but he couldn't.

Looking up from the blank paper, McGee glanced across at his boss then up to the catwalk. It was such an integral part of who Gibbs was, so it needed to be included, but... How do you write what you can't figure out? He could try, but he needed to do them justice. Maybe he should just...

"Agent Tibbs took no notice of the people around him as he focused on the file on his desk. He'd heard the rumors, of course. Shoot, Tommy had probably started half of them. Tibbs figured it was a good thing the younger agent could only guess. Smiling wryly to himself, he reached for his coffee, glancing up to meet the brilliant green eyes watching him from the catwalk.

"She hoped to intimidate him, maybe, but it wouldn't work. Jessie Sampson had never intimidated him before and he wasn't about to let her now..."

.:::.

_She Will Be Loved – Maroon 5 (Songs About Jane)_

The press badgered her, commenting on her relationships, her clothing, her administrative choices, every aspect of her life. And, day after day, he could see the effects their scrutiny had on her.

Making a choice one night, after a particularly scathing article, he slipped a note into a file he knew she'd see. He knew – or at least hoped – that she'd recognize the invitation for what it was.

The little message stuck to a report left on his desk told him that she had understood but couldn't allow herself to accept. That had cemented his resolve and he made his plans accordingly.

Following her home wasn't hard; he knew where she lived, anyway. Neither was parking in front of her house. It was the waiting that he found difficult, because he wanted her to make the first move.

His patience was rewarded an hour later as she opened the front door and waved, finally letting him back into her life.

.:::.

_Long Way To Happy – Pink (I'm Not Dead)_

They kept playing the game, sticking to baby steps that brought them closer.

Little glances.

Brief touches.

The occasional dinner during a case.

Anyone with eyes could see they both wanted more. Anyone who saw their give and take could tell there had been something there. Everyone wondered if they'd give in. Then, eventually, people simply started wondering 'when' they'd give in.

When he left to Mexico, the questions turned to whether he'd come back. And when he came back they thought, maybe they'd get it right this time. But when the saucy blonde followed him through the bullpen to the elevator and everyone saw how he didn't care and how she looked so lost, the answer was obvious.

It would be a long time and a long way to happiness for them.


End file.
